st. louis: without a face || margot & the nuclear so and so's

it was a wild friday night of venue hopping a couple weeks back! my friend henry of without a face was playing an early show at cicero's so of course i had to pop in and say hey. there was a really great crowd there to see him, especially seeing as how early the show was. he's definitely made some fans from opening for ludo so much. he debuted his new twisted sexual assault which he'd sung for me over the summer and it was a huge hit. his new ep dropped about a week ago and while i haven't had the chance to get myself a copy yet, i definitely plan to come next paycheck and you should too.

it was only eight or so when the show ended which gave me plenty of time to drive the couple blocks to the firebird to see margot and the nuclear so and so's. i've been a fan for quite a few years and have only managed to catch them once at a street festival. i was pretty stoked to finally see them in a venue with good sound. and they certainly didn't disappoint. maybe it was the rum and coke, but i was dancing and singing along and having an awesome time. definitely glad to see them and definitely worth the multiple trips on a friday night.

columbia: without a face, stamps, tommy and the high pilots, and ludo

space dracula's basketball expo: take two!

sam and i saw henry off early in the afternoon, and we took our time getting ready and eventually headed to columbia as well. we had a nice late lunch with my family at casa gallardo though, which was awesome. love me some mexican food. we got to my apartment in time to meet up with a bunch of people, carpool to the venue, and just miss the epic storm that was brewing. (i cardinal literally hit my windshield on the drive downtown and no one will let me forget it. angry birds much?) i love the blue note because it's a decent sized venue so it has that 'big show' feel, but it's definitely intimate no matter how far away from the stage you are.

henry played first, stamps played second, tommy and the high pilots played third. we took a break to chat with friends while sparks the rescue played, and made our way back in the middle of the crowd for ludo. once again, it was a fantastic show. we chatted with friends, i said my goodbyes to sam, and left her (warily) in henry's care, as he was giving her a ride back to st. louis in the dead of night so she could catch her train in the morning. and i dragged myself back to my apartment and crashed. nothing like working at 7AM after a weekend full of show and no sleep!

st. louis: without a face, stamps, tommy & the high pilots, and ludo

bear with me, as i seem to have gotten so far behind that the mere thought of attempting to get caught up makes me cringe. but in a burst of creative mania, i'm ready to tackle this beast that has gotten really backed up in regards to show reviews. i've had a lot on my plate with school, work, and popwreckoning, but better late than never, right? here we go.

hometown ludo shows are always my favorite. hometown ludo shows with a bunch of friends in the middle of summer is even better. sam came in town for about a week and we scheduled in some great hangs with molly, claire, chris, tom, and a bunch of awesome people. we made a day of the loop and met for a late lunch at the noodle cafe, wandered around in vintage vinyl, and had some chats with convy and henry before the show. without a face opened and was insane and weird and hilarious and awesome as always. stamps played next and were really great. who doesn't love robert morris, ginger, and former member of the hush sound? i met him while sparks the rescue played (i'm not a big fan) and we pretty much became bffs. so much in fact, that i now refer to him as my bff robert morris. we're tight. after stamps was tommy and the high pilots who i have quickly fallen in love with. so. freaking. talented. sam and i unfortunately gave up our spot in the pit when we went to mingle with friends in the merch room, so we watched ludo from afar. it was a cool experience though; i'm always amidst a sea of hardcore fans so it was neat to see them from a distance. and let me tell you: space dracula's basketball expo is no fucking joke. the entire stage was decorated and every member was dressed head to toe as either an astronaut, dracula, or a basketball player. hilarious. they played a great set as they always do.

we mingled for quite some time afterwards, went to ihop and ate so much food that the waiter even commented, and eventually went home and waited for henry's arrival. he slept in his car outside the venue the night before. i took pity. totally worth it, as i got to hear his superior rapping skills and a new song entitled twisted sexual assault about the tsa.

fabulous.

st. louis: the without a state tour

featuring without a face and state & madison


ohhh this. this tour, these people. so many stories and so many things that are to never be talked about again.

state and madison. my loves. words cannot describe my love for them. they came to visit me in wonderful st. louis on the craziest weekend of my life, and by the time their show rolled around i was exhausted. first up was one man band henry, of without a face. i'd probably seen henry play a good five or six times with my gaggle of chicago locals, but had never really introduced myself. let's just say that night was the beginning of what will eventually be marriage. he opened, made everyone laugh, and it was great to be among all of my st. louis music friends. we're a scarce bunch compared to those of chicago, but we're getting there. state and madison played next and of course tore shit up. it was my first time seeing alan play as their new drummer too, so that was fun. both bands and about eight of us friends all shipped out to denny's for a rowdy and way too sexual dinner. words cannot describe the topics of conversation and the pictures taken that night. oh my. both bands were going to drive to columbia and crash at my apartment there, so we were in for a long drive. tony knew i'd had a long and tiring weekend so he rode with me to keep me company and keep me awake, and everyone else followed behind.

and we'll leave it at that. many shenanigans commenced upon arrival in columbia. those italians, i tell ya. they snore all night long and drool on your pillow!

www.withoutafacemusic.com
www.stateandmadison.net

chicago: without a face, jonas sees in color, windsor drive, and state & madison

so remember that one time i went to chicago to see my besties in state and madison at their CD release? ...no? yeah, me neither. that's how fucking long ago the show was. and of course, because of the apathetic procrastinator that i am, i'm just now getting around to writing about it. (are you sensing a slight pattern here?)

since the show was on a sunday, and since my good friend meesh had just moved into her new apartment in oak park, i decided to go up a day early to hang out. i left around noon, made really good time, and got there a little before five. meesh and i got some dinner in downtown oak park and wandered around peeking in cute little shops and stopping for a while in this really neat bookstore. she had to work early the next morning so we opted for a chill night in, where i downloaded about half of her CD collecton.

the show was an early one at beat kitchen on sunday, and there was a street festival happening on belmont. so we left in plenty of time to pick up sam and stephanie, and hung around outside the venue for a while when we got there (and stuffed our faces with festival-esque potato skins... YUM.) without a face opened the show and there weren't too many people there are first, but we still had a good time. henry is the one and only member of without face, and let me tell you. he's hilarious. without a face isn't really the rock n roll kinda band, but if you're looking for some lighthearted comedy, henry's your man. jonas sees in color played next and it was quite fortunate that they did. the band was in a really bad van accident the night before the show - their van flipped three times and everything was totalled. fortunately, besides some cuts and bruises and sore muscles, everyone escaped harm free. they put on a good show and the blood running down the lead singers arm made it all the more bad ass. they were really good - not exactly my type of music, but i bought a CD anyway. i mean they almost died and still made it to chicago to play the show. the very least i could do was offer up ten bucks to help them get back on the road. windsor drive played third and were just as wonderful (and attractive) as i remember them being. they played a wonderful set and it was over all too quickly.

state and madison was up next but before they played, there was a surprise in store. little did you know, tony is an ordained minister in the state of illinois (i couldn't make this shit up if i tried) and he MARRIED a couple on stage. and then they played the show. so random, but i would expect nothing less from state and madison. their set was one of the best i've heard them play, and that's saying a lot since this was number eighteen or something crazy like that. i say it every time, but they really do blow me away every show they play. they're so. fucking. good. it was also really cool to see jesse (ex-cavashawn, now south jordan drummer) play with them. the friendships and love in this music scene never get old for me, i love seeing bands helping other bands. we all hung around for a while after the show and i said my goodbyes to everyone moving away. sad times. benton just moved to LA, jesse's going to nashville, chelsea's going to LA as well... boo hiss. also talked to tony and gossiped about new drummers... times are certainly changing and i'm trying my best to keep up. craziness i tell ya! but all worth it.

the four of us got dinner and meesh and i went back to her place and passed the hell out. she had work in the morning and i had a long drive back to st. louis ahead of me. i stopped in la grange for dinner with the always entertaining silver siblings, and was on my home home by around three. all in all, a very successful weekend.

dekalb: state & madison and treaty of paris

just when i thought i could look forward to a nice relaxing saturday without any crazy roadtripping plans [FINALLY] for the entirety of my spring break, mike convinced me. he convinced me to drive the four hours north to dekalb, illinois to see treaty of paris [again] and state & madison. it was a fairly easy decision since one - i adore both those bands, two - all my chicago friends would be there, three - meesh and her parentals would be there, and four - honestly, what better plans did i have? so i rolled myself out of bed at noon, lazily got ready and was headed north by around two. my bladder was most definitely not in roadtrip mode so it took a little longer than four hours, but i arrived in plenty of time. and as i walked in, i was promptly knocked over by a collective group hug from sam, steph, claire, molly and meesh. have i mentioned how much i love them? well i absolutely adore them. so we hung out for a while and chatted it up, said hey to various band boys wandering aruond, and mike came over and pointed and laughed at me. he loves me, i swear, even told me i was his favorite person. WIN. [check that one off the bucket list.]

without a face [yes, again] played first and was hilariously entertaining as always. kirkland was next and they were really good. not exactly music i'd choose to listen to day in and day out, but they put on a great show and their lead singer, sarah, has an absolutely killer voice. next was state & madison, my chicago loves, and they were of course amazing as they always are. they're now tied for first place with cavashawn for "number of shows i've been to". ooh, the competition! [the magic number is sixteen if you were wondering.] and last but not least, was treaty of paris. quite the show, as was the one the previous night. they never fail to impress me, and phil kosch never fails to make me laugh with his crazy moves on stage.

so we all hung around for a while after the show, took some pictures, made fun of meesh for being WASTED [just kidding] and i made my goodbye rounds with most everyone. left around eleven, made it home by three thirty, crashed into bed.

/end last-minute-decision-saturday.

st. louis: treaty of paris

SPRING. BREAK. ...was ninety five percent of the reason i was STOKED about this show, haha. i hadn't seen treaty of paris since their january cd release show, and this was the perfect way to kick off my spring break in st. louis. i once again headed out to the firebird. the club was pretty empty, but it filled up as the night progressed and there was a pretty great crowd there by the end of the night.

the first band was surprisingly good; second band was without a face [henry is too precious for words. and his songs are hilarious.] and third was the trainwreck called nothing still. during all three previously mentioned bands, mike and i caught up on life, he made fun of me for this and that, and he somehow convinced me to drive to dekalb the following night to see treaty again with state & madison. he's damn persuasive and of course i can't turn down a show. so i eventually agreed and he gloated. we love each other. so treaty finally played and hot damn, i always forget how good they are. this was only my fourth or so time seeing them, but i feel like i've seen them a million times and we're old friends. all the guys are so friendly and they all love to give hugs. extra cool points for that one in my book. they played equal amounts of new and old songs, and everything sounded fantastic. i bought a shirt after the show, talked to most of the guys briefly, promised to see mike in less than twenty four hours, traded hugs, and made it home by around one. perfect way to start my break.

st. louis: ludo and ha ha tonka

oh ludo, my wonderful loves from st. louis, how i have missed thee. here's a quick run down since i'm (one) drowning in homework and (two) have more show reviews that i still need to get to.

i booked it home from class on thursday and was speeding my way to st. louis by around four. traffic was horrendous since it was raining cats and dogs, and it took me almost three hours to get down to the pageant. bleh. but it worked out regardless, because hardly anyone was in line. angie came home as well for the show, so we met up and got in line along with her brother tony and his friend alec. once inside, we opted for spots a little further back, just above the pit area. we had both room to move around, and a place to set our stuff. (stuff being a ton of free posters, cds, stickers and patches. hell yes.) without a face opened, which is a one man band with quite the witty lyrics. meese was next and i was pleasantly surprised. i'll definitely be picking up their music when i get around to it. and the last of the openers was ha ha tonka. i can't say that i'm a huge fan of their albums; it's a little too honky tonk for me. but those boys have some serious talent and put on one hell of a live show. they played hangman, which is a cappella with four part harmonies - gives me chills every time, and the oscillating fan song which is hilarious. ludo finally played and put on a stellar show. vocals are always spot on, convy is always hilarious, and they never disappoint. set list is as follows:

go-getter greg
hum along
elektra's complex
saturday night thunderbolt
topeka
girls on trampolines
horror of our love
broken bride
save our city
tonight's the night
the lamb and the dragon
morning in may
drunken lament
lake pontchartrain
goodwill hunting (with the star spangled banner in the middle)
love me dead

good times. broken bride was epic and brought back many memories of ninth grade; love it. i didn't stick around long to talk to anyone because i still had a two hour drive ahead of me, but i did get to say hey to jon who was promoting outside. i got back at an absolutely horrendous time of night, started some of my packing for the weekend, and crashed hard. more blogs to follow about friday and saturday when i find the time...